Safeguarding Adults Boards – Annual reports

The Care Act 2014 requires each SAB to publish an annual report. Most SABs already produce annual reports, although their content and format vary. The Care Act (Schedule 2.4 (1) a – g) defines the minimum content of an annual report thus:

As soon as is feasible after the end of each financial year, a SAB must publish a report on:

The performance of member agencies and how effectively, or otherwise, they are working together should be included in the report. Questions for consideration include the following:

The annual report must be sent to:

It is good practice for the SAB’s strategic plan to be sent with the annual report and for the SAB chair to attend relevant forums to speak about both.

Annual reports should form the basis for the consultation on the strategic plan for the coming year. There are practical difficulties completing annual reports at the end of the financial year due to the need to collect, analyse and present data, so their completion will usually be at a point following the financial year-end.

A SAB may develop a strategy for the dissemination of its annual report that is broader than the minimum required by the Care Act. Most SABs already have their own website that can be used for this purpose.

A SAB should consider the target audience of its annual report. The report should be seen as a key part of its strategy to promote its profile with the public and other local multi-agency partnerships as well as the profile of safeguarding adults in its area. It may be appropriate to publish an executive summary and versions targeted at specific audiences. The annual report should be publicly available on, and remain on, the SAB’s and members’ websites and made available on request in alternative formats, such as Easy Read, other languages and Braille.

A SAB should seek assurance from its members that the annual report has been considered within their internal governance processes.

Issues to consider include: